


New Cries

by brightlikeloulou



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Domestic Fluff, M/M, Mechanic Anakin Skywalker, New York City, Pining, Professor Obi-Wan Kenobi, Single Parent Anakin Skywalker, Writer Obi-Wan Kenobi, padme isn't the twin's mother
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-12
Updated: 2020-10-03
Packaged: 2021-03-01 18:20:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,016
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23611441
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brightlikeloulou/pseuds/brightlikeloulou
Summary: “Look if you’re here to complain then I’m fucking sorry but I’m alone here so you can fuck right off-“Obi-Wan falters for just a moment before putting on a smile and holding his hands in a surrendering gesture, “I’m not here to complain, I wanted to offer you my help, I thought you might want it.”*Or, Obi-Wan’s Kenobi’s new neighbor’s babies have been crying for hours when Obi-Wan finally knocks on their door.
Relationships: Obi-Wan Kenobi/Anakin Skywalker
Comments: 69
Kudos: 696





	1. Chapter 1

The clock has just ticked past nine when Obi-Wan finishes marking the final essay, scribbling the student’s impressive mark and smearing red ink across the page when he adds a smiley face.

It being a Friday, the city is still buzzing. Given that his apartment is close to campus, the noise of the streets below floats through his open window as masses of college students enjoy the beginning of their weekend; the drunken cheers and music of street players won’t fade for hours yet. Usually the noise is welcome, but tonight it clashes unpleasantly with the echoes of the crying babies across the hall.

The remainder of his coffee – in a white mug with a small pride flag – is long cold but he sips it anyway as he stacks the marked papers together and files them away in his satchel to hand back on Monday. He tidies the rest of the table before taking the mug and dumping the contents down the sink, attempting weakly to wash away the stains before simply dumping it on the growing pile of unwashed dishes.

He rests back against the counter, gripping it tightly beneath his palms as he stares at the front door of his apartment, chewing the inside of his cheek. Since finishing marking the papers, the crying has only gotten louder and his own eyelids heavier.

He knows of the man who lives in the apartment, the both of them being mutual friends with Padmé (apparently they had dated long ago when she was still in college) but he had never met the man before, despite living across the hall from each other for a week now. The timing hadn’t been right to run into each, and Obi-Wan hadn’t taken the initiative to go over and introduce himself. The information he knows about the man is limited, Padmé only giving him a brief fill-in when they had been out for drinks the previous week; his name is Anakin, he’s twenty-five with twin newborns, and he’s on his own with them.

Huffing through his nose, he gives into the smell that has begun to emit from the dishes and opens the dishwasher to begin loading them; attempting to ignore the ache in his back every time that he bends down.

As he rinses the spaghetti sauce from the final plate, he ponders as he listens to the cries coming from beyond his apartment. With a heavy sigh he comes to a conclusion and closes the dishwasher a little too harshly, producing a small thunk and a rattle from the dishes inside, making him wince at open it again to check he hadn’t smashed or cracked anything.

He decides that he has the opportunity to help out his new neighbour when he seems to need it; Padmé had even instructed him that when they did meet, to be particularly kind to him, as if that wasn’t Obi-Wan nature anyway. He collects his wallet, keys and phone before exiting his apartment.

He supposes that Anakin would either be grateful for his help or take it as an insult to his parenting. While Obi-Wan would never admit it, the sound of crying is about to drive him up the wall and even though he completely understands that babies cry because they’re babies, he would welcome the silence.

He knocks on the front door identical to his own and waits several long moments before it violently swings open. It reveals an extremely frazzled, tired and frustrated looking young man with red cheeks, messy, greasy hair and a t-shirt that’s stained with what appears to be a mix of spit-up and food.

Obi-Wan manages to get a look at his face before he starts talking, long enough to realise that _wow he’s handsome_ before the anger in the younger man’s voice startles him:

“Look if you’re here to complain then I’m fucking sorry but I’m alone here so you can fuck right off-“

Obi-Wan falters for just a moment before putting on a smile and holding his hands in a surrendering gesture, “I’m not here to complain, I wanted to offer you my help, I thought you might want it.” 

The man stares at him suspiciously, eyes squinted and brows pulled together. The babies’ crying is louder now that the door has been opened, “Why would you want to do that?” Anakin asks accusingly, and Obi-Wan can’t blame him; he imagines how odd it would be to have a stranger appear at your door and offer to help care for your kids.

Obi-Wan cringes slightly and quickly formulates a reply, “I understand how strange this must come off as and I apologise if I’ve put you at unease,” he begins, and his smile still isn’t returned, “I’m Obi-Wan Kenobi and you’re Anakin, right? I’m a good friend of Padmé’s. She told me that you would be moving in. I just… I want to help.”

After several long moments Anakin pulls his phone out of his daggy grey sweatpants, Obi-Wan’s eyes follow the movement and he realises that Anakin has an artificial arm as Anakin dials a number. Obi-Wan’s brows raise in surprise when he hears Padmé’s voice on the other end of the line but he proceeds to smile slightly when Anakin asks the woman if she really does know Obi-Wan and if it’s safe for him to come into his home with his babies, hanging up once she confirms that she does know Obi-Wan and he’s fine to be around the babies.

“Do you know how to change a diaper?” Anakin asks he tucks his phone away, continuing when Obi-Wan nods, “Great. If you try anything, I’ll break your ribs.” 

Obi-Wan nods understandingly and follows Anakin back into the apartment which unsurprisingly is a mess. It’s the same size as Obi-Wan’s and he believes all apartments on this floor are identical. Where Obi-Wan has a small office space with a collection of bookshelves and a desk, Anakin has a few privacy screens and the space behind them acts as a nursery.

It’s a sweet little set-up, Obi-Wan thinks as they enter it; there’s one large crib, a dresser, changing table and rocking chair all in matching pale wood. A mobile has been hung from the wall over the crib with a collection of animals hanging from it, and there’s various stuffies sat on the furniture.

Looking into the crib, he instantly smiles softly. The babies are tiny, red-faced and screaming but adorable nevertheless.

“Luke and Leia,” Anakin tells him as he bends down to pick up the child screaming louder than the other, shushing her softly as he adjusts her to hold her against his neck, “Leia has colic and I need to try and get her to eat something. Luke needs a diaper change, can you do that?” he asks, continuing when Obi-Wan nods as he reaches down to offer a finger to Luke, who grasps it attempts to suck it making him laugh softly, “They’re in the top left drawer, put the cream on first and then the powder, I’ll get a bottle ready for him to by the looks of it.”

“Alright,” Obi-Wan replies, not worried by his task given he’s changed many diapers before and given many bottles.

Anakin adjusts the positioning of one of the screens so that he can see him from the kitchen, and then leaves once he has, making soft noises to Leia as he does. Obi-Wan leans over the crib and carefully scoops up the whimpering baby, holding the tiny thing to his chest.

 _He’s so small_. Obi-Wan thinks as he moves him to the changing table, brushing his fingers over Luke’s tufts of soft blond hair, the baby having quietened down, like he almost understood he was about to get some relief from his diaper, which Obi-Wan could feel was soaked and smelled. Logically, Obi-Wan knew that twins were born earlier than singular pregnancies and were therefore smaller but to hold something so tiny and fragile but very alive in his arms, astonished him.

“Hello there, little one,” He murmurs softly, but apparently still loud enough for Anakin hear him, as sees the younger man look over to him out of the corner of his eye. Luke begins to kick his legs as Obi-Wan begins to undo the buttons of the babe’s onesie.

“You can change his clothes too,” Anakin calls as he crosses the apartment to the couch, encouraging Leia to take the bottle he held, “The onesies are in the second drawer.”

Obi-Wan nods his understanding and removes the baby’s onesie, placing it in the hamper beside the changing table before working on the diaper, revealing the mess Luke had made of himself. As he tosses it into the bin, which sits beside the hamper, Luke begins to scream, startling Obi-Wan enough that he smacked his hand against the wood as he reached for the wipes. He places a gentle hand over Luke’s belly and shushes him softly, confused as to what had upset the baby because only seconds beforehand he had been happily sucking at his fist.

Anakin chimes in before Obi-Wan can ask what’s wrong, “He’s fine. He just doesn’t like being naked,” he informs him, voice softer now that Leia has stopped crying and is suckling the bottle.

“Oh?” Obi-Wan hums, grinning as he makes quick but thorough work of cleaning and then re-diapering Luke, “Why’s that, huh?” he murmurs and continues to talk nonsense to him until he’s clean, in a new onesie and seemingly perfectly happy again.

“There’s another bottle in the warmer for him,” Anakin tells him, and looking over Obi-Wan finds that he’s gazing down at his daughter with a soft smile on his lips. _Very pretty lips._

Obi-Wan sits down on the opposite side of the couch once he’s collected the bottle, and Luke doesn’t hesitate in taking it, sucking enthusiastically as Obi-Wan settles, welcoming the feeling of the comfortable couch to his back, which was aching after being bent over grading for hours. When Luke rests his tiny hand against Obi-Wan’s wrist Obi-Wan smiles softly and feels warmth spread in his chest.

Looking up at Anakin, he finds that the younger man already has his eyes fixed on him, a thoughtful expression on his face, as if he’s trying to figure Obi-Wan out. He looks incredibly handsome with his messy hair carelessly pushed back from his face, he looks exhausted but content as his shirt slips down to reveal a tan collarbone and Obi-Wan wonders what it would taste like-

“Are you a father?”

Anakin’s question cuts him from his thoughts and Obi-Wan clears his throat as he shakes his head, looking down at Luke to hide the flush on his cheeks. Then, Anakin stretches out a long leg with a soft groan and his cold toes brush against Obi-Wan’s ankle, making him shiver.

“No, but I am an uncle. My best friend, Qui-Gon, has a seven-year-old, Amelia. I helped out a lot when she was first born and have consistently babysat since. We’re quite close,” he explains quietly, not wanting to disturb the quiet peace of the apartment now that both children are drinking.

Anakin hums, “I just thought… you’re good with them, a lot more natural than what I was at the start.”

Obi-Wan smiles, “Thank you, that’s sweet,” he says softly and then asks, “How old are they?”

“Two months in a few days. I know they look smaller; they were preemies, didn’t get out of NICU until three weeks ago and got off their oxygen tanks a few days later. They’re healthy now, aside from Leia’s colic and they’re starting to grow like weeds.”

Obi-Wan processes for a moment; Padmé hadn’t mentioned that, “Well, it must be amazing to see where they are now. They’re very beautiful.”

Anakin smiles wide with straight, white teeth peeking out from behind his lips, blue eyes gazing into Obi-Wan’s for a moment before going back to Leia, “Yeah, they are. I love them so much that I swear it could kill me. It’s hard though, being alone. I mean, I have my mom and some friends but I don’t want to rely on them all the time.”

Obi-Wan regards him, taking in how tired he looks; his eyes swollen with dark bags underneath them, cheekbones prominent enough it seems to be more from weight loss than natural bone structure. He couldn’t begin to understand what it would be like to have premature twins, especially single but he can sympathise and offer his help.

“Well, I’m around most of the time when I don’t have classes. You can come to me for help whenever you need it; I’d like to help.”

The smile that Anakin then gives him is small but genuinely grateful, “Thank you,” he murmurs and avoids Obi-Wan’s gaze. 

They small talk between themselves for the next twenty or so minutes while the twins finish their bottles. Obi-Wan learns that Anakin works as a mechanic, grew up in Arizona but moved to New York with his mother when he seventeen. In turn, Obi-Wan explains that he’s lived in New York his whole life and is an English professor at the local college, having become a successful and somewhat well-known (depending on who you asked) author in the past five years after publishing a string of his own novels. Anakin promises he’ll be sure to read them.

When the babies’ finish, Anakin shows him how to burb Luke as Obi-Wan turned out to be out of practice, and it doesn’t take long for Luke to fall asleep after that so Obi-Wan swaddles him and puts him down in the crib. Leia however, isn’t so easy and as soon as she’s burped she begins to cry again, so Anakin walks laps around the apartment as he rocks her while Obi-Wan folds a basket of laundry he finds on the armchair and then washes the pile of dishes in the sink.

Forty-five minutes later, both babies are finally fast asleep and Anakin is showing Obi-Wan out, “I’m sorry I was such an asshole at first… I’ve been on edge pretty much since they were born, sleep and stress, I don’t know…” Anakin apologises, smirking slightly as he leans against the doorframe.

Obi-Wan’s stomach does a little swoop that he ignores, “Apology accepted, I understand,” he replies as he shakes his head in dismissal and pulls his own apartment key from his pocket.

Anakin’s smirk turns into a closed lipped smile and Obi-Wan can’t decide what he likes better, the smile or the smirk, “Thank you though, tonight was particularly hard,” he mumbles as he shoves his hands into the pockets of his sweats, “You made it a lot easier. I really appreciate it.”

Obi-Wan smiles at him, hoping that it hides how exhausted just an hour and a half of looking after one baby has made him feel, “You’re welcome, Anakin. I’m happy I could of helped, please let me know if I can again.”

Anakin’s cheeks redden just slightly, but Obi-Wan caught it when he watched the curl of his lips, “Thank you, Obi-Wan and goodnight.”

“Goodnight, Anakin,” Obi-Wan replies before turning back to his own apartment, hearing the door to Anakin’s close as he unlocks his own.

He strips off his close the second he’s in his bedroom, making a beeline for the bathroom so he can shower and then sleep the remainder of the night away. The warmth of the shower is welcoming and pleasant; as he works shampoo through his hair he can’t help but think of the sweet young man across the hall.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been slowly writing this chapter since a few days after this one and am very happy that it's done. I've also rewritten the first chapter and posted it a few days, maybe a week ago. I'd recommend re-reading it because it's 100 times better and there's also a few additional plot points.

New York city in the middle of the week is loud, crowded and overwhelming if someone has never experienced it before.

Obi-Wan however, has many times so the constant chime of the café door, the mass chatter of customers and the shouting of customers names doesn’t bother him. He, by some miracle, had managed to snag a table, probably good timing more than anything and is sipping at his coffee as he filters through the emails on his laptop.

He’s replying to a student with a question about the homework he had signed last lesson when his attention is grabbed by someone saying his name. Looking up, he finds Anakin is standing by his table.

The other man is in his mechanic’s uniform that Obi-Wan so often saw him in and is holding a coffee in one hand and a brown paper bag in the other; a sweet smile across his lips that does little to hide the dark circles under his eyes. 

“Good morning, Anakin,” he greets, smiling back at him, mentally calling himself an idiot for how excited he feels at the sight of Anakin.

Morning, Obi-Wan,” Anakin replies as he gestures to the seat across from him, sitting down when Obi-Wan nods his approval and moves his satchel to rest against his feet on the ground instead.

It’s been over a week since Obi-Wan had helped Anakin in his apartment with the babies and Obi-Wan had seen him every day since in passing, usually in the hall between their apartment or the elevators, but they hadn’t had enough time to do more than exchange more than a few words. There had been one exchange in the elevator that resulted in Anakin giving Obi-Wan his business card that had his personal number scrawled across the back; it had made Obi-Wan’s stomach swirl with butterflies. Anakin had been flirty and confident when he handed it to him, telling him ‘just in case’ as he winked at him.

“You’re out early,” Obi-Wan observes, closing the lid of his laptop deciding to forego replying to emails to talk to the very handsome mechanic across from him instead.

Anakin rips open the paper bag he had brought with him, pulling out a blueberry muffin and digging into immediately, “I got an earlier starting shift. My mom just grabbed Luke and Leia for the day,” he explains, and crumbs fall to the table-top as he talks with his mouth open. Obi-Wan is unsure if it’s gross or endearing.

“How far away does your mother live?” Obi-Wan asks as he watches Anakin take a swig of his coffee before he even swallowed his mouthful of muffin.

“About half an hour away. I’ll drive out and pick them up when I finish at six.”

“It’s seven-thirty now and you’re not finishing until six?” Obi-Wan asks barely managing not to stare as Anakin licks away the stray droplets of coffee off his lips.

Anakin hums, “Yeah, it’s shit but it will give me a couple hours of overtime and I need as much money as I can get right now.”

Obi-Wan taps his gloved fingers against the table, worrying slightly at Anakin’s mention of money problems, “I was planning on getting takeaway for dinner. I could order extra so you don’t have to worry when you get back, if you’d like?” he eventually offers, a long moment later when Anakin has another mouthful of muffin.

“Oh?” Anakin asks and looks up at him, eyes slightly wide and cheeks puffed, “What are you getting?”

“I’m very familiar with all local restaurants that offer takeaway; I’m not talented in the kitchen, expect for a single chicken curry that I was taught. So, your choice.”

Anakin huffs a soft laugh, resting his chin on the flesh of his palm, waggling his brows at him, “Pizza? Pizza is the superior takeaway,” he suggests, the movement of his eyebrows draws Obi-Wan’s eyes to his scars, wondering the story behind how he had gotten it.

Obi-Wan looks away again, huffing a laugh, “Pizza it is.”

“Meat lovers,” Anakin specifies as his signature smirk spreads across his lips.

“Your apartment or mine?” Obi-Wan asks with a surprising spark of confidence, deciding to smirk right back at him.

Anakin thinks for a moment as he scrunches up the paper bag he’d used as a plate, “Mine, I suppose,” he decides, “It’s easier with the babies. You don’t mind hanging out with two screaming newborns on a Wednesday night?”

“I did it on a Friday, why not a Wednesday?” he replies and Anakin chuckles softly and his messy blond curls fall in front of his face when he shakes his head, then shoving them back with his artificial hand.

“Fair point.”

Obi-Wan wants to kiss him so badly. He’s only known this man just over a week, this only being their second actual conversation but yet he feels absolutely infatuated with the younger man. He knows that Padmé or Qui-Gon would spot it within minutes if they were to see them interact and he wasn’t careful. It surprised even Obi-Wan; he hadn’t even had sex in almost ten months and he was a much younger man when he’d been in his first and previous long term with relationship with Satine before he had come to the realisation that he was in fact gay. He was surprised that he was already developing feelings for Anakin, usually, it took him a lot longer; Anakin was extremely attractive, almost a decade younger than him, a single father with two adorable children, funny, sweet…

As he looks across the table at the man, he realises that he’s almost head over heels for a man he’s known a week and a half, whatever he’s feeling being _different_.

The harsh exterior that Obi-Wan had first seen came from a place of protection for his children but now that he trusted Obi-Wan, Anakin had revealed himself to be a very sweet, confident and downright cheeky man. Despite the short amount of time, Obi-Wan felt nervous, the need to impress and flirt with the younger man.

He had not even the slightest clue if Anakin was even interested in dating – which he would understand given that he had newborn twins and from what Obi-Wan had gathered, a messy break-up with his ex – and furthermore, if he was even sexually attracted to men. However, Anakin was a flirt, almost worse than Obi-Wan himself and several interactions during their brief passings reflected such, from Anakin looking him up and down and complimenting what he was wearing or stating that he preferred him in something else ‘yesterday’s suit went better with your complexion’ or giving him his number. He supposes it’s definitely plausible.

The whole thing is far too much for him to process this early in the morning, so he downs the last of his coffee and gathers his laptop and satchel, “I have to get going, I have a lot to do before my first class,” he explains, also collecting Anakin’s rubbish for him, “Message me when you leave your mother’s and I’ll organise dinner.”

“See you tonight,” Anakin answers, properly smiling at him instead of smirking; it lights his face up all the way to his eyes where small crinkles form, “Have a nice day, don’t work too hard.”

“I don’t know anything else, Anakin,” he says playfully and doesn’t resist the urge to reach out and squeeze his shoulder as he passes him.

* * *

Anakin’s apartment is much cleaner than it had been the last time Obi-Wan observes; there’s no random clothes or baby supplies sprawled everywhere, no dirty dishes in the sink and the basket of laundry he finds is already folded.

It’s almost eight, New York trafficking slowing Anakin’s travels to and from his mother’s house and Obi-Wan is absolutely starving, usually eating much earlier but he had wanted to wait for Anakin.

Obi-Wan carries the pizzas to the living area (meat lovers for Anakin and pepperoni for himself) placing them on the coffee table while Anakin carries the two car seats to the nursery area and places the already sleeping babies in the crib before excusing himself to take a quick shower because his uniform is stained with grease and dirt. It’s an attractive look on him, especially with the grease stain down his neck, but it’s probably not the most sanitary clothing to be eating dinner or tending to babies in.

Obi-Wan makes his way to the kitchen and collects a beer for Anakin and a cold water for himself, along with some napkins; a brief check on the babies reveals them to still be sleeping peacefully. Anakin had told him the car ride was the cause and they’d sleep for the next forty minutes or so until they wished to be fed.

Obi-Wan makes himself comfortable and is flicking through the news channels on the television when Anakin emerges from the bedroom, now in sweats and a loose tank top and Obi-Wan watches how his biceps flex as he reaches up to towel dry his hair. Obi-Wan is mesmerised by his lean muscle, tan skin and the remaining droplets that trail down his shoulders that are so tempting to-

Anakin turns to face him from the nursery, tossing the towel to the floor (and suddenly it’s no mystery how the place gets so messy) and plops himself down on the couch, accepting the beer that Obi-Wan hands him.

“Thank you,” he mutters, “Fuck, I feel like I need about seven more of these.”

Obi-Wan hums his understanding, “I could do with a bottle or two of wine, but getting wine-drunk the night before I have to supervise an exam will only be something I’ll hate myself for.”

Anakin chuckles and reaches for his pizza, grabbing a slice and Obi-Wan follows his lead, “I wouldn’t have taken you for a wine drinker; the whole professor slash writer just screams whisky in a crystal glass as you use a typewriter to write poetry…”

Obi-Wan chuckles this time, “Hmm, I do have a typewriter but it’s only for show. It’s a vintage piece, I would never actually use it.”

“I bet your apartment is filled with weird old things. You’ll have to have me over and give me a tour.”

Obi-Wan shakes his head and reaches his foot out to shove Anakin’s thigh. It feels surprisingly comfortable and relaxing between them, banter and conversation easy. It feels domestic.

“Speaking of apartments, yours is much cleaner than the last time I was here,” he teases.

Anakin briefly looks around and nods his agreement, “Yeah, mom got here early this morning and cleaned while I finished getting Luke and Leia ready.”

“Your mother seems very supportive,” Obi-Wan offers as he reaches for a second slice of pizza.

“She’s really the best. She’s the only family I have other than the twins and we’re the same for her I suppose.”

Obi-Wan hums a little sadly, “At least you have each other, that your kids will have a grandmother,” he says without thinking, too focused on eating and just how hungry he is after waiting so long for Anakin.

When he looks over at Anakin again, he finds the young man is regarding him with a frown on his face and hesitates before speaking, “You don’t have family?” he asks quietly.

Obi-Wan shakes his head, having made peace with it long ago, “No I don’t. My parents died in a car accident when I was four and neither of them had immediate or distant family so I was raised in foster care.”

Anakin is quiet for a moment, so Obi-Wan takes the chance to shove more pizza in his mouth, “I’m sorry. I can’t imagine life without my mom. I’ve heard plenty of bad things about the system, I suspect it wasn’t the best way to grow up.

Obi-Wan snickers dryly, “Definitely not but I have a much better life now; I have a good job as a professor and author, I have money and some good friends. What else do I need?”

“Do those things make you happy? What about what you want?” Anakin is almost doe-eyed when he looks at him, relaxed and tired but very attentive.

Obi-Wan pauses as he strokes his fingers over his beard, noticing that Anakin follows the movement, “I think it’s far too late for questions like that, at least for an old man like me?”

Anakin chuckles, “Old? Come on.”

“Older than you,” Obi-Wan retorts glad for the change in conversation and especially so for the grin across Anakin’s lips.

“I’m only twenty-five, it’s not harder to be older than me. You can’t be older than thirty-five.”

“Thirty-three.”

“See?”

“I suppose then,” Obi-Wan begins, “that I just feel older than what I am.”

Anakin hums his agreement as he leans back against the arm of the couch so he can face him, “Yeah, I understand that. I used to be out at bars and nightclubs every night, now I’m bottle-feeding, changing diapers and singing lullabies all through the night.”

“Oh, you must let me hear you sing a lullaby.”

Anakin laughs, loud and boisterous, “No way in hell.”

* * *

As Anakin had predicted, the babies wake around forty minutes after they had arrived at the apartment, just in time for Obi-Wan and Anakin to shove the last of their food down their throats.

Anakin moves to care for the babies while Obi-Wan tidies from their dinner before swooping in to give Luke a bottle after Anakin had changed his diaper so that the younger man can move onto his fussing sister. Earlier, Anakin had informed him that Leia was in the recovery stages of her colic and was almost back to her normal self.

Obi-Wan was walking circles around the coffee table to help Luke drift off to sleep as Leia finished her bottle in her dad’s arms. The argument she gives is much weaker than what she had been last time and surprisingly, she feels asleep before her brother, however he follows her only minutes later.

They’re both standing over the crib afterward after they’ve placed the twins inside it, Obi-Wan holding a wipe in his hand that he’d used to attempt to get out the stain out of his shirt from Luke’s spit-up.

“You should be proud of yourself for doing this,” Obi-Wan murmurs as he gazes down at the two babies, entranced by how peaceful they look, swaddled and comfortable, “I don’t think many people could. I certainly couldn’t on my own.’

Anakin is silent and Obi-Wan finds him staring at him, “I’d do absolutely anything for them. No hesitation. I just hope I’ll be good enough for them.”

Their gaze meets and Anakin’s eyes look wet, “You will be, Anakin. You’re a fantastic father, you’ll be more than good enough for them.”

Anakin’s lips curl in the tiniest of smiles, trembling as they do and he squeezes his eyes shut for a few seconds, quickly taking Obi-Wan by surprise just seconds later when he steps closer and threads his arms around Obi-Wan. Anakin buries his face into his shoulder and squeezes him tightly. After getting over his shock, it’s instinctual to wrap Anakin up and squeeze him right back, pulling him close and threading fingers through his hair.


	3. Chapter 3

Anakin is already in the hallway when Obi-Wan exits his own apartment, struggling to unlock his apartment door as he bounces one of the babies, which one Obi-Wan can’t tell but the poor thing is bawling its eyes out. The second must be in the stroller which is just to Anakin’s left.

It’s a Saturday morning, just before nine am and the younger man looks like he just rolled out of bed; his curly blond locks are still a mess, boots unlaced, jeans slipping down over his ass because he had forgone a belt. Obi-Wan wonders why he’s trying to get back into his own apartment.

Obi-Wan hurries to lock his own door, tucking his keys into his pocket afterward before approaching the small and young family, “Hello,” he warns Anakin of his presence as he stops behind him, “Can I help?”

Anakin turns around quickly, “God, yes please,” he says and doesn’t hesitate in transferring the baby into Obi-Wan’s arms; who he can now identify as Leia by the pink bow sitting upon her brown hair and her chubbier cheeks. Obi-Wan feels an unexplainable amount of happiness at the man’s trust in him with his daughter, “I forgot my fucking phone…” Anakin mumbles and successfully unlocks the door now he doesn’t have an armful of screaming baby.

Obi-Wan adjusts Leia so that she’s against his shoulder and bounces her as Anakin disappears into the apartment, “You are such a noisy one, Leia,” he murmurs to the baby and steps closer to the stroller to peak at Luke. He’s not asleep, in fact he looks rather disgruntled at the noise his sister is making, brows creased adorably and lips pouty. Obi-Wan can’t resist reaching town to tickle the babe’s tummy.

A phone begins to ring from inside the apartment, followed by Anakin cursing and then saying ‘hello’ in his politest voice. Obi-Wan snorts a little as he takes to rocking Leia, tilting his head so she rests comfortably and beginning to hum the tune he’d had stuck in his head since the previous night when he’d passed a talented street player.

Anakin’s phone call drawls on but Leia’s cries cease as Obi-Wan continues to hum, one of the baby’s hands splayed over his collarbone and he’s pressing a kiss to the side of her head before he realises it, “I can’t believe how much you have grown already, Leia,” he tells her and it’s true; it’s been a little under a month since Obi-Wan had first met Anakin and by extension Luke and Leia and in that time the twins had grown a great deal, while definitely small for their age they were certainly growing. During the past month, he and Anakin had become closer, often spending nights together at either one of their apartments and in that time, Obi-Wan’s feelings for the younger man had only developed stronger.

Anakin returns a few moments later, smiling wide when he seems them, “You got her to stop crying,” he states as he locks the door, sounding shocked by his success.

Obi-Wan hums as he hands Leia back to Anakin, “Yes, well she enjoyed the song I hummed to her,”

“Can I hear it?” Anakin asks after buckling Leia into the stroller. He turns to Obi-Wan and grins widely.

Obi-Wan smirks slightly, “Sure,” he begins and Anakin looks excited for a moment before he continues, “The street player goes by the name Talia, she plays almost every night by Dex’s.”

Obi-Wan rolls his eyes and then shoves at Obi-Wan’s chest, “That was mean,” he whines, “You got my hopes up.”

Obi-Wan laughs quietly, “Just teasing you,” he replies and Obi-Wan doesn’t miss how he briefly looks him up and down, “What are you up to?”

“Grocery shopping. Usually my mom goes for me or has the kids while I go, but she’s working and I’m in desperate need for some things,” Anakin tells him as he grips the stroller and starts toward the elevator, Obi-Wan following him, “You?”

The elevator dings quickly and Obi-Wan helps Anakin to maneuver the stroller inside the small elevator, “Coincidently, I was also planning on running to the store,” Obi-Wan replies and immediately sees relief wash over Anakin’s face.

“Really? Can we go together? I’ve never taken the twins in public before by myself really, I always had my mom or Ahsoka, or Padmé. I’m kind of terrified that they’re going to go off and I’m not going to be able to stop them from crying or-“

Obi-Wan cuts him off, sensing the spiral Anakin was getting himself into, “Anakin,” he says and grabs the taller man by his shoulders, having to look up to meet his eyes, “Calm down, of course I will come with you.”

Anakin sighs, “Thank you, Obi-Wan,” he murmurs and reaches up to squeeze one of the hands on his shoulder, giving him a soft smile. Obi-Wan thinks he would give Anakin whatever he wanted to keep him happy like he is now.

* * *

“Is this really how expensive diapers are?” Obi-Wan asks bewildered as he puts two of the large boxes into Anakin’s shopping cart, “They’re even on sale… God.”

Anakin laughs softly where he stands rocking Luke, who had begun to fuss slightly, “Yes, they really are this expensive. Well they don’t have to be, but the cheaper brands can cause diaper rash and that’s a whole pain in itself,” he tells him, “And this will only last me two weeks because there’s two of them.”

“That is ridiculous,” Obi-Wan thinks aloud as he watches Anakin put a now much happier Luke back into the stroller.

“Well babies shit a lot,”

“So vulgar,” Obi-Wan replies as they continue down the aisle, stopping occasionally for Anakin to grab the supplies he needed, only continuing to the next aisle once Anakin had deemed he’d collected everything Luke and Leia would need.

Obi-Wan’s grocery trips were often short and small as he only cooked on rare occasions and the only food he brought was the essentials such as bread and milk for his coffee along with snack-like components for during the day when he couldn’t order a lunch or dinner. However, being with Anakin who had two babies to shop for as well as himself had extended Obi-Wan’s trip to already double what it would be if he had come alone; yet he’s unbothered, he would rather be here with Anakin who has only had one small freak-out when Leia screamed for five minutes before after someone had knocked items off a shelf and startled her awake. Obi-Wan enjoyed the fact that Anakin was comforted by his presence here with him and is glad he could bring that to him; regardless of his feelings for the young father, Obi-Wan was his friend first, and would take every opportunity to make something easier.

“What else do you need?” Anakin asks, cutting Obi-Wan from his thoughts, having switched their roles so Obi-Wan was pushing the stroller and Anakin had the shopping cart, is was easier given that Anakin was the one doing most of the shopping. Everything Obi-Wan needed fit in child’s seat of the shopping cart and was almost already collected.

“We need to go to the diary isle and then I believe I’ll have everything that I need,” Obi-Wan replies.

“Oh good, I’ll be done as well then."

It’s then that a young girl is jumping out in front of them, catching herself before she collides into both the shopping cart and stroller. Obi-Wan recognizes her within seconds and winces.

“I am so sorr- Oh Mister Kenobi!” She smiles widely when she recognizes him, her eyes darting from him, the stroller he pushes and then to Anakin.

“Hello, Brielle. How are you?” He asks, smiling what he hopes is politely. She’s not a bad student by any means, just far too much personality for him to ever want to have much interaction with her outside of the classroom.

“I’m Good Mister Keno- Oh, I can call you Obi-Wan outside of class, right?” she asks with a grossly bad pronunciation of his name and proceeds to invade both his and Anakin’s personal space to look into stroller, “Obi-Wan!” she exclaims clapping her hands together, still pronouncing his name wrong, and it’s then that Obi-Wan realises all she has in her basket is a packet of condoms and lube, “You never mentioned that you were married,” she says, with a pointed look at Anakin, “Or that you had such adorable babies!” she’s practically shouting it for the whole store to hear at this point and Anakin looks seconds away from yelling at her to shut up before she wakes the twins while Obi-Wan’s cheeks have turned an bright red.

Obi-Wan quickly tries to salvage the interaction, “It was nice to see you, Brielle, but Anakin and I really must continue-“

“Oh, me too, you know, things to do!” she says, laughing and shaking the contents of her basket apparently feeling no shame, “See you on Friday Mister K!” she calls and then bounds off again as quickly as she had appeared.

They’re both quiet for a moment before Obi-Wan huffs and adjusts his grip on the stroller, “I sincerely hope that is the last time I am ever called Mister K.” he says and continues on toward the diary isle, hoping that he doesn’t sound as embarrassed as he feels.

Anakin quickly follows behind him, “Kenobi isn’t even hard to pronounce; neither is Obi-Wan I don’t know how she messed that up as badly as she did,” he says and Obi-Wan glances over to see he looks as red in the face as he feels.

“I suppose she’s only ever read it before,” Obi-Wan answers as they reach the dairy products and he and Anakin break apart slightly to search for their items.

They end up side by side again at the yoghurt and Anakin breaks the silence between them, “Have you ever thought about it, what she said?”

Obi-Wan doesn’t think much of it, checking the date on a container of honey and vanilla yoghurt, “What getting married?” he asks.

“No, I meant…” Anakin trails off, sighing softly and moving to check on the babies. Obi-Wan frowns for a moment and turns to look at him, knowing the younger man has something on his mind.

“What? Tell me, Anakin.”

Anakin fiddles with the end of the blanket poking out from Luke’s seat, and Obi-Wan see that he’s nervously biting his bottom lip. He’s silent for several long moments and Obi-Wan is about to encourage him again when he finally speaks, “Do you ever think about you and me being… I don’t mean married that’s obviously way too quick but I mean the two of us dating, being together?” he sounds so anxious that Obi-Wan just wants to reach for him and hold him to his chest.

He doesn’t do that but he does step forward and take Anakin’s artificial hand turning the man around so he as to look at him and Anakin does, blue eyes wide, “Yes,” Obi-Wan replies, “All the time, dear one,” he murmurs and the way that the corners of Anakin’s mouth quirk up, Obi-Wan swears he can feel his heart swell.

**Author's Note:**

> kudos and comments are loved and inspire me to write more! 
> 
> Tumblr @iiloulouii - feel free to come & chat to me about the fic there :)


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